Mini Primark Haul

I went to primark at the weekend (Bury, The Rock) and I bought a few basics and some home ware - I love Primark's autumn/winter clothing and homeware, I need to go back to primark soon for a couple more candles and a tartan scarf!

1. Dark Green Jumper (£7): I saw a stand of jumpers and this shade just stood out to me - I love dark green clothing, especially during this time of the year and this jumper is super soft and cosy - it is fairly thin but still warm and quite high quality! I am definitely going back to get a black one and the dark beige one.

2. Primark Black 60d tights (£3): Primark tights are getting a little bit more expensive, I remember not too long ago when tights were £1.50 and £2 anyway, they are great staples and go with most dresses. The super cosy ones are gorgeous too - they have a fleece/soft lining. 

3. Black Skater Dress (£5): A skater dress for £5! Thank you Primark! I saw a couple of these in spotted prints and some that were plain, I bought the black one as 99% of the time I wear dark clothing and this dress is fantastic. The length is great on me and I am just under 5ft but the dress did have a tiny rip in the shoulder which I am going to sew - check before you buy these dresses. 

4. Grey Christmas Pj Bottoms (£5): There is nothing nicer, especially at this time of year when the leaves are falling off the trees, the dark hours are getting longer and it is getting chilly, than a pair of fleecy, warm, cosy pyjama trousers/bottoms/pants - what ever you want to call them! These are super soft, warm and I love the pattern. 

5. Sleep in rollers (£2): I read a blog post about £1 sleep in roller in the poundshop or poundland and I was going to get them but I saw these in primark so I picked them up. They are kind of dupes for the sleep in rollers that are about £20 - I haven't tried them yet but they look great. 

6. Primark Grey/Black Camis (£2.50): Another great basic from primark - cami's. I bought a dark grey one and also a black one - they are staples in my wardrobe as they are great under sheer tops, for layering or for under dresses. I also love the adjustable straps. 

7. Firewood fig candle (£1.50): I had to buy a primark Christmas/autumn candle - I bought the firewood fig scent and I have been burning it the past couple of days and I love it - the scent is really nice and autumnal and the scent is pretty strong too, usually cheap candles only have really subtle scent but this one is really impressive! 

I also bought a tin candle (£1.50) in the scent 'cinnamon clove' which has a cute glittery snowflake on the candle and it smells amazing! I bought a cute 'keep calm man at work' oven mitt for my dad which was reduced to £1 and I also bought a couple of basic t-shirt bras in white and nude for only....£2.50! 

Just a video to show the items I bought from my recent trip to primark! x

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easy halloween Makeup: The Joker

Here is the first of my halloween/fancy dress makeup look series and this first look is my female version of the joker from Batman - I love the batman films and cartoon, even as a child! I did show a preview photo of this makeup on my instagram (heathernixon4) and Twitter (ofbeautyand). I love makeup and this series was so fun to make but I am not a makeup artist obviously. 

This makeup is inspired by the joker from batman but it has a kind of frankensteins monster vibe too with the 'stiches' around the mouth - out of the makeup looks I have done for this halloween series, this is definitely my favourite - I love the smokey eyes, very strong brows and cartoon like lips. 

Firstly, I started with the Barry M Creme Foundation in 'white'. I layered it up a bit more with this look to make my skin look even whiter and a bit more perfect as a base to contrast with the dark makeup. I then filled in my brows with a matte black shadow from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette and I did fill them in quite a lot here and I thickened them and made the arch more promanent. Then onto the eyes, take a matte black and matte brown and just apply, blend, apply, blend, apply and so on until you get the colour intensity and smokiness you want. It is so easy, just blend well. I took  a matte brown quite far under my eyes. To finish the eyes, some black liner from Pixi.  

Now the fun part, the lips. I messily apply a red lipstick (101 framboise by Yves Rocher) then I smudged it at the edges onto the skin with my fingers as the joker always has messy bloody lips/makeup in the dark knight films - If I remember correctly, the cartoon joker and the older films have quite perfect red comical lips. Then I started just lining my lips lightly with a matte black eyeshadow and my Ecotools eyeshadows brush then extending the line outwards at the corners of the lips to make a smile of sorts. Then with the same matte black shadows make small crosses along the line, like stiches or barbed wire which give a new twist on the joker/batman look. To create a slightly bruised/purple lip, I patted some of the excess black eyeshadow on top of the red lipstick focusing at the edges and sides of the mouth. 

To finish the look I use the excess black shadow on the same eyeshadow brush in the hollows of my cheeks to create a contour and I blended it out well with the real techniques expert face brush which is the brush I used for the white foundation. I also use the Elf 'cool' bronzer which has a white shade in it to set the makeup. 

I hope you like this look! Stay tuned over the next week or two for the other halloween makeup looks in this series x

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week in photographs #40/41

Yet another two weeks has gone by and it is time for my week in photographs post - my fortnightly life update. The main things that happened over the past two weeks: Shopping (surprise, surprise), dying my hair, autumn has arrived, halloween makeup and nails, writing blog posts/reviews, writing my CV, blog milestones, facetime with my sister, being a bit ill still and eczema flare ups! 

Firstly, shopping! There have been quite a few new releases recently from makeup brands such as the new Vaseline limited edition lip balm which I love! Revlon have also released their chalkboard nails which I am interested to try out and their have been a few exciting makeup releases that I am super excited about - the Chanel winter collection (I am getting that gorgeous palette) and I saw that Hourglass are bringing out a ambient lighting powder trio set - I haven't tried any of those infamous powders but the set would be a great way to try them out - I need! 

Also this week, I dyed my hair as you will have seen in my Autumn lookbook post, click here to see the post. I used the Schwarzkopf colour mask dye in dark brown and I love the colour but I don't think I would buy this dye again which is a shame because I love the other Schwarzkopf dyes I have used in the past. As it is getting closer to halloween I have been experimenting with some halloween makeup looks such as clowns, dolls, vampires, and the joker from batman which is the look above - it has been so so fun, I love experimenting with makeup and I hope you like the halloween makeup series I will be posting over the next two weeks! 

Favourite TV shows: 2 Broke Girls - I cannot express how much I love this series, I have series 1 on dvd from amazon, love it!I have also been loving the BBC series Peaky Blinders. 

Favourite skincare items: Ren hydracalm cleanser (a recent repurchase and I am so glad I have it again), the Organic Surge super intensive moisturiser and the Avene water spray. I have had a horrible eczema flare up the past week or so and these products have been helping.

Favourite makeup items: Vaseline paint the town lip balm (a gorgeous shade!), Dr Jart Platinum BB cream and the Sleek oh so special palette.

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Back to School Beauty Picks

Here are my back to school, university, work beauty products that I love and they are also purse friendly too! From makeup and skincare, here are handbag essentials that I love!

All images from Google

1. Soap & Glory Lid Stuff Quad, whats nude (£10): I have been using this quad since maybe November last year and I have loved it since I first used it! The pink shade (top right) is my favourite as it is great as a skin tone base and all but one of the shades are matte so they would be great for a natural, school day look. The shades do not crease at all with a primer and without a primer they do not crease easily - which is impressive because pretty much every thing creases on me.

2. ELF (eyes, lips, face) Bronzer, Cool (£3.75): For contouring, pale skins can struggle because bronzers and contouring products can look muddy or orange on pale skin tones but this bronzer quad is fantastic. All of bronzer shades are matte, they do not look muddy or orange on my skin and the white shade is great for sharpening up the contour. 

3. Simple Rich Moisturiser (£3.89): This facial moisturiser is just a staple product for me, it is hydrating (although because I have super dry skin I need a couple of layers) and it is really cheap too. It is a basic but effective moisturiser that I cannot rave about enough!

4. ELF Tone Correcting Concealer(£1.50): Another great product from ELF (eyes, lips, face) and it is their tone correcting concealer. This is the first concealer that I have used that is dewy and that does not crease - I love it! Also it is so so cheap, whats not to love. Although it doesn't offer than much coverage but it is great for under the eyes and to cover pores/slight redness. 

5. MUA Clear Mascara (£1): I have used this product as a clear mascara and it is good but it doesn't hold a curl that well. It is also good as a brow gel and I have been using it to tame flyaways - I just lightly brush through the wispy hair that doesn't behave when my hair is tied up. Overall, it is average but it has a lot of uses and it is very cheap. 

6. Maybelline Baby Lips 'Cherry me' (£2.99): These little tinted lip balms have been the talk of the beauty community for ages! I have the cherry and pink shades, I hate the pink one because it is too much of a light baby pink for me but the cherry one is really nice. Also they are handy, cheap and give a slight wash of colour, perfect for school/college/work. 

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Autumn Lookbook #1

I haven't really created a post like this before, it is a lookbook style post where I show you the outfits that I will be wearing through out autumn. My makeup for all of these outfits is the same - Dr Jart Platinum BB cream which I love, S&G whats nude eyeshadow quad, new Vaseline paint the town lip balm and I have the amazing Bumble and Bumble thickening creme contour in my hair. 

Outfit One: I have shown before on my blog but I just love it! The jumper is from Monki (I shop that I LOVE) and it is a gorgeous chunky and quite heavy sweater. The sweater goes really well with my Dorothy Perkins petite skinny jeans and La Redoute brown leather boots.

Outfit two: My forever 21 striped knitted dress - I love the style of this dress, I think it is really cute and great as a transitional dress - as it is knitted and kind of warm but it is not too much. I have added a pair of the Primark 60d tights and my Newlook tan ankle boots.

Outfit Three: Black top from H&M, my coat is from Newlook and I love it, especially the colour but it is a UK 6 so it is a bit tight (I bought it in the sale last year for about £6). Again I have my trusty Dorothy Perkins petite skinny jeans and another pair of La Redoute boots - this time they are calf boots, they are black and really good quality.

Outfit Four: A bit more casual outfit, my cami is from Primark (I bought it yesterday for £2.50) and my cardigan is from Zara and I love it so much, it is really cute and soft. My jeans are from Dorothy Perkins (surprise, surprise) and my boots are from La Redoute.

Just a little video featuring some of the outfits above 

Oh and don't forget to enter my blog giveaway (ciate nail polishes and topshop makeup) - it ends very soon! x

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Dixi Jewellery Wish List

I was looking through blogs I came across a post about Dixi - a jewellery/accessory shop and I immediately fell in love with their rings and necklaces! This is not a sponsored post and if you want more information about Dixi, click here. I can't remember the blog where I saw this post but they had a code for free delivery if you spend £20 - code: BLOGGERDISC. 

All images from shopdixi.com

1. Azura Silver Crystal Bullet Necklace £26.00: I saw this necklace and the first thing that struck me was the colour of the stone - how freakin gorgeous is that colour and against the silver, love it! The necklace would look great with a white dress or a plain top and skinny jeans. 

2. Spirit Child Necklace Rose Gold £20.00 - £22.00: The price difference for this necklace is due to the chain metal/finishes. I think the rose gold or gunmetal chain would look amazing. The necklace looks really chic and simple and it would be great with so many outfits. I think all f these stone necklaces would be great for autumn and winter. 

3. Ghost Smokey Quartz Necklace £18.00: As with the first necklace the colour of the stone in this item is just gorgeous - I tend not to wear a lot of colour at all so this is perfect - it looks so chic, simple and quite interesting too. The necklaces (the stone necklaces) all look so simple but amazing - it reminds me of that simple but gorgeous Scandinavian style I saw when I went on holiday this august!

4. Protector Arrow Head Necklace £20.00: Surprise, surprise, another necklace. I love the arrow head shape of the stone on this piece it looks quite old, rustic and it has a real heritage look to it. I also love the way the stone is held on the chain, it is really unique. 

5. Apogee Ring Silver £26.00: A ring this time, I love the design of this ring it is really gorgeous. The thin silver against the gunmetal jet glass stone is so pretty and different. Simple jewellery is gorgeous and in my opinion it is quite hard to find chic, simple but gorgeous pieces. 

6. Feeling Fine Stacking Ring Set £1.00: 

Here is an item from the summer sale - their sale is amazing - a lot of items are £1 or £2 which is fantastic! These cute gold thin rings are only £1! They look so dainty and cute and for that price you cannot complain. They have a few gorgeous cheap rings/necklaces in their sale. 

7. I Love You To The Moon & Back Ring £16.00: Another ring, these are not in the sale. They are cute metal rings with 'I love you to the moon and back' written around them which I think is so cute and it is a nice saying too. They would be great as a present and they would look nice stacked together. 

Just a little note - I am selling a full size Glamglow face mask (50g, new) on ebay now 

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